A rose to honour Daniel Morcombe launched in South Australia

Bruce and Denise Morcombe visited Gawler, north of Adelaide, this morning to officially launch the commemorative Daniel Morcombe rose, a deep red, lightly perfumed rose that has been created and named in the honour of their lost son.

The hybrid Tea Bush Rose has been bred by rose wholesaler Knights Roses and is described as an 'exquisite, dark red velvety bloom' that will flower continuously throughout the growing season.

The colour of the rose was bred to match the colour of the t-shirt Daniel was wearing in December of 2003 when he was abducted and murdered while waiting for a bus on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.

Part proceeds from the sale of the roses will aid the Daniel Morcombe Foundation, an organisation established by Denise and Bruce in 2005 to honour the memory of their son and empower children to recognise and respond to situations that may threaten their safety.

Recognise. React. Report.

To recognise what may be an unusual situation, react by removing themselves from the area, and then report their concerns to an adult.

"Bad things don't always happen to somebody on the other side of the world - they can happen to anybody, anywhere, anytime," Bruce said.

The foundation also focussed on the fact that offenses were quite often committed by people known to the child.

"It's not just about abduction; it's also about offenses against a child that are just not tolerated by the Australian community."

He said apart from the education of child to recognise danger, the foundation also offered support for commonly overlooked areas.

"The other important aim of the foundation is to assist young victims of crime."

Mr Morcombe said the foundation offered short holidays, the payment of educational expenses, medical expenses or even the replacement of furniture to help to 'repair the damage'.

"Perhaps the abuse has happened to that child on the family couch in the lounge.

"While the child might be receiving counselling and looked after in that area, the family do not have sufficient funds to buy a new couch and that is where we can step in," Bruce said.

School visits

Whilst in South Australia Denise and Bruce will visit a local school before meeting South Australian Education Minister Jennifer Rankine to discuss the implementation of the foundation's program into state curriculum.

The will meet with Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne on Friday to discuss adopting the program nationally under a curriculum review.

"Part of that review is to assess whether the incorporation, under the health and education aspect of the national curriculum, that Daniel Morcombe Child Safety curriculum is worthy of that."

Mr Morcombe said the program had been running fully funded and successfully in Queensland schools and hoped it could be adopted nationally.